Living under this here rock, I guess it's no wonder I didn't realize how big Smart-TVs are becoming. I've seen 'internet TVs' before but hey, if they're really building up steam then maybe that's what Nintendo will be working on from about 2016 on as their final console. I really wish I could have been at the expo...hopefully there will be another next year.

Great show Jim...although that freakout at the end is how I felt when I realized I would likely have to wait until my February 2013 birthday to get my hands on a Wii-U...also I used tonkatsu sauce, not ketchup. Thank Jim for Jim.

zelda2fanboy: I imagine WiiU's biggest competitor is not going to be Sony or MS, but rather, the Ouya. It has similar hardware... and it's less than half the price.

A system with a decently clocked 128bit wide GDDR3 backing its SM4.0+ gpu will easiy outclass any system with a 64bit wide low voltage mDDR2, and the WiiU could be sporting a GDDR5 bus, or even an XDR2 bus.

My kids will turn 4 in a couple of months and be just at the age of starting games. The touchscreen controls are way more kid friendly than gamepads and and the WiiUPad will transition well between controllers and touchscreen.

I pretty much agree with Jim entirely. When I turn on my Xbox, i see a big intrusive square in the middle of my screen, cycling through advertisements of music, movies, sports, tv shows, and if i'm lucky, a game, with the game that's currently in my disc tray appearing as a tiny little box in the corner. Also, none of that can be changed; i'm stuck with that set up. When i turn on my Wii, the only things that have to be on the menu is what's in my disc tray, and the Wii Shop channel, which makes sense because if i deleted the Shop channel, it'd be like deleting any web browsers off your computer. Yah. Woops.

And I think this is partly down to Nintendo just a good old-fashioned game company. They dont make blu-ray discs, they don't make operating systems. They make game consoles, and games. That's it. And it's something that I really respect about it. I'm not being advertised to on the Wii, i'm being given what I want -- games, and the only advertising that will be shown to me will cycle through the tiny Wii Shop window, but even then, at least it's game related.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my Xbox, i play it more than the Wii. But with this new console generation coming up, I'm starting to really question if I want to be an advertisement sponge for Microsoft, or go with Nintendo. Hopefully the third-party support for the Wii U is strong, as that will definitely make the decision a snap.

I plan to get a Wii U but not until there are more games, I do like the sound of ZombiU and I would most certainly snag a copy of Bayonetta 2 and Mario, but looking at the controller...it looks awkward as hell...not something I would want to play something like Assassins Creed 3 on.

daibakuha:Who cares about all this superfluous bullshit? Consoles live and die by software, not by what other services they provide. Nintendo can't provide the experience I want out of a console, and I won't be buying from them.

Ya, I just don't see it. Sure integrated TV functionality may muscle in on some of the stuff that Xbox and PS want to offer you, but the reality is that people buy consoles for the games and I think the Wii U is cornering themsleves out of the games by doing this.

Once the next gen systems come out, the Wii U will simply be less powerful than the other 3 platforms (xbox, PS and PC) making it inferior to develop the more complex games on.

Plus if pad integrated gaming were to actually become more desirable than a gimmick, people are going to want to use their much more capable and non proprietary pad. Their pad which will have much more functionality and connectivity, thus making Wii U's a poor choice for expanding and/or monetizing the two gaming worlds.

And, personally, I think its stupid to force me to divide my attention between my TV and your pad. I love my TV. Lots of people love their TV. I get that a lot of people, especially younger generations, are more willing to watch their stuff on smaller screens, but come on. I don't want to watch the pad when my TV is right fucking there.

Edit: Worth noting that I thought, from the get go, that motion control was dogshit and that the Wii wouldn't be worth it. While it certainly dropped off in later years, no one can argue that it was very successful.

Ronack:I think the Wii U is the console actually putting in effort to be different than the one before it. With the stats we know of the PS4 and the nextbox, we can pretty much agree that those are just the PS2.75 and the Xbawcks1.3

You have a weird sense of what counts as the next generation or a true follower to a console. 10+ times as much power? Nope, it's just 1.5. Drastically improved online features, controller, ~5 times the resolution etc etc... Pfft, that's nothing. Gimmicky controller? F*** Yeah!

Seriously, the only way Wii U is doing anything significant is if you compare it to Wii, which is like comparing Nextbox to Xbox (not 360).

My money's on Sony. I'm almost certain MS is going to do precisely like Jim said and I loathe Wii U's direction almost as much as I hated the Wii's. Sony has kept it reasonably focused on the core gaming experience and I hope they keep it that way next gen as well.

I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

I want to see "behind the scenes" footage of Jim showing this video to his dry cleaner without them automatically thinking the obvious reason why he would have ketchup on his suit.

On topic: I'm still lukewarm about the whole Wii U thing. I haven't been massively interested enough to keep an eye on the release titles and I don't know if:

a) it'll be anything that appeals to my specific tastes in aesthetics, storyline and gameplay style.

and b) That it won't be anything I don't already own on either my Wii or my 360.

I'm still pretty much just waiting it out, it'll probably be some time after release before I can afford to fork out for one anyway and I want to make sure that I'm getting my money's worth for it. I'm going to wait until there are enough reviews and "buzz" about the system before I make any concrete decision.

That being said; I'm optimistic, despite being cautious. I see the potential, but I'm also cynical that the potential might be squandered or misused in the early years and development won't focus very much on that second screen, which opens up an whole world of possibilities if companies are willing to take some risks. Something that I'm pretty sure we're all aware just does not happen any more unless you're an indie developer.

If it turns out to not be my kind of thing then I'm holding no grudge against it, nor will I have anything against anyone who decides that is their kind of thing. That's just how things go, I'm going to wait until I see enough games for it to appeal to my personal tastes before I'm fully committed, because what's a gaming system without games?

I think the Wii U will be very successful with the "casual" market, since tablets are all the rage right now.The "hardcore" market will be much better than with the Wii, since Nintendo is stealing plenty of Hardcore IPs from Sony.The third party developers also seem to like the console a lot more than they liked the Wii, and Nintendo seems to be more willing to help 3rd parties and getting engines like Unity and Umbra.Even /v/ videogames hive of scum and villany is pretty pumped for the Wii U.The only ones who don't like it are the PC Master Race, Nintendo "haters" on the escapist, and people who hate any controller not resembling a Dualshock or XBox 360 controller.Sony is in big trouble since Nintendo trounced them twice in the hand-held market and are courting hurt developers and Microsoft's Media hub experiment could prove to cripple their new console.

Darmani:I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

Moviebob said something similar in an old episode of the Game Overthinker. Since Sony bombed in Japan with the Vita, Nintendo stole most of the momentum in the hand-held market with games like Monster Hunter, and frankly Mario is more of a system seller than Nathan Drake. Sony could possibly fall out of the video game business.The XBox 360 has strong multiplayer "hardcore" games but stepped on Nintendo toes with the Kinect. If Sony falls due to the Vita and PS4 failing and Nintendo monopolizes the Japanese market, then those will be interesting times. I think Microsoft and Nintendo will try to monopolize the industry, which would be pretty bad.

zelda2fanboy: I imagine WiiU's biggest competitor is not going to be Sony or MS, but rather, the Ouya. It has similar hardware... and it's less than half the price.

A system with a decently clocked 128bit wide GDDR3 backing its SM4.0+ gpu will easiy outclass any system with a 64bit wide low voltage mDDR2, and the WiiU could be sporting a GDDR5 bus, or even an XDR2 bus.

Somewhere out there there is a robot with an erection. I will safely assume it is the captcha.

Darmani:I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

Moviebob said something similar in an old episode of the Game Overthinker. Since Sony bombed in Japan with the Vita, Nintendo stole most of the momentum in the hand-held market with games like Monster Hunter, and frankly Mario is more of a system seller than Nathan Drake. Sony could possibly fall out of the video game business.The XBox 360 has strong multiplayer "hardcore" games but stepped on Nintendo toes with the Kinect. If Sony falls due to the Vita and PS4 failing and Nintendo monopolizes the Japanese market, then those will be interesting times. I think Microsoft and Nintendo will try to monopolize the industry, which would be pretty bad.

Do you have a link to said article? I'd really like to give it a good read. Honestly I would hate for sony to drop out of the race for the sheer fact that I think they are the only ones holding back MS from going full crazy with their bloatware on the xbox.

MS isn't going anywhere. If Nintendo won the overall with a big start. MS won the Western market and is finally at looooooooong last improving in asian/japanese markets later. They have less hate though plenty of apprehension attached to them.

Sony, the company who are overall suffering, and keep banking on premium core early adopters in a recession is getting thrashed by...Samsung and Apple (nintendo is a minor front) in their overall operations. So they'll either hold fast and maybe pull a win (Wonderbook, the smash ripoff, and the other late gen goodies they can roll out ya never know who was banking on the extremeeee success of God of War?) But right now its Nintendo for the young MS for the core market Sony likely pulling back.

Darmani:I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

Moviebob said something similar in an old episode of the Game Overthinker. Since Sony bombed in Japan with the Vita, Nintendo stole most of the momentum in the hand-held market with games like Monster Hunter, and frankly Mario is more of a system seller than Nathan Drake. Sony could possibly fall out of the video game business.The XBox 360 has strong multiplayer "hardcore" games but stepped on Nintendo toes with the Kinect. If Sony falls due to the Vita and PS4 failing and Nintendo monopolizes the Japanese market, then those will be interesting times. I think Microsoft and Nintendo will try to monopolize the industry, which would be pretty bad.

Do you have a link to said article? I'd really like to give it a good read. Honestly I would hate for sony to drop out of the race for the sheer fact that I think they are the only ones holding back MS from going full crazy with their bloatware on the xbox.

Sure here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bDbj4j1ylE it's kind of old, since it only mentions the PSP, but it has a theory thatt might shed some new light into why Sony fucks up their business osmetimes.

as for the WiiU it self? its already the most interesting system of the three. why? at bare minimum i expect the PS4 to be a hardware upgrade, and the 720, meh, might as well not exist for all I'll care

I'm going to have to agree. When I first heard about the WiiU, the only thing in my brain was "gimmick." But the more I hear about the WiiU, the more awesome it sounds. I'm actually seriously considering buying one. Maybe not at launch, but probably in the reasonably near future. Also, the more I hear about the 720, if that's what they really want to call it, the more I'm pushed away from it.

TLDR: Excited about the WiiU. I want PS4 as well, as long as they don't screw it up. 720 is already complete crap.

Spot1990:Dammit, stupid living in Europe, do an expo over here dammit.

Anyway, yeah I think the WiiU is probably realistically the best console. I'm a console gamer, I have a PS3, a 360 and a Wii, and a pc that has a shit graphics card so I need to get on that. But Consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque with each generation. Only no0t able to do as much. They need to cut the crap and just make consoles straight up gaming machines and then charge less for it. I don't want to pay like 500 quid for a machine that plays blu ray, has a browser or whatever else. My PC and my tablet do all of that better. Hell next gen I'll probably just upgrade my PC and buy a WiiU. Maybe wait a few years and buy a console for any exclusives I missed.

The Wii U does have a browser, and I'm not sure if it will but it may be able to play blu-rays. But still, none of that is seeming to distract from the game part of the system. Just look at E3, if Sony or Microsoft announced they were getting Netflix or something on their consoles they would spend 5 minutes talking about it, and show a two minute trailer on it. In Nintendo's E3 conference this year talking about the Wii U they spend about two minutes announcing pretty much all their video services, and they were pretty much saying "We know you won't be surprised or amazed at these announcements, so we'll spend as little time as possible announcing them so we can get to the games!"

Spot1990:Dammit, stupid living in Europe, do an expo over here dammit.

Anyway, yeah I think the WiiU is probably realistically the best console. I'm a console gamer, I have a PS3, a 360 and a Wii, and a pc that has a shit graphics card so I need to get on that. But Consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque with each generation. Only no0t able to do as much. They need to cut the crap and just make consoles straight up gaming machines and then charge less for it. I don't want to pay like 500 quid for a machine that plays blu ray, has a browser or whatever else. My PC and my tablet do all of that better. Hell next gen I'll probably just upgrade my PC and buy a WiiU. Maybe wait a few years and buy a console for any exclusives I missed.

The Wii U does have a browser, and I'm not sure if it will but it may be able to play blu-rays. But still, none of that is seeming to distract from the game part of the system. Just look at E3, if Sony or Microsoft announced they were getting Netflix or something on their consoles they would spend 5 minutes talking about it, and show a two minute trailer on it. In Nintendo's E3 conference this year talking about the Wii U they spend about two minutes announcing pretty much all their video services, and they were pretty much saying "We know you won't be surprised or amazed at these announcements, so we'll spend as little time as possible announcing them so we can get to the games!"

A little bit wrong, since Microsoft spends 20 minutes talking about ESPN and Adidas, while Sony spends 15 minutes on the surely killer-app that the Wonderbook will be. Then they show the 2 minute trailers.

What in the hell are you basing the idea that Sony won't focus on games next gen on?

By my count, for the past few years we've heard nothing from Guerilla, Sucker Punch, half of Naughty Dog, and SCE London. This points to all of these studios focusing on creating games for the Ps4 - games that, given the time they've been given, will likely be available for the systems launch. Whereas Nintendo could provide one worthwhile game at launch, that leaves Sony with four first party titles to wow us with.

My point is that the idea that the WiiU has a focus on games, or that this focus is moreso than its competitors, is simply fallacious.

Spot1990:Dammit, stupid living in Europe, do an expo over here dammit.

Anyway, yeah I think the WiiU is probably realistically the best console. I'm a console gamer, I have a PS3, a 360 and a Wii, and a pc that has a shit graphics card so I need to get on that. But Consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque with each generation. Only no0t able to do as much. They need to cut the crap and just make consoles straight up gaming machines and then charge less for it. I don't want to pay like 500 quid for a machine that plays blu ray, has a browser or whatever else. My PC and my tablet do all of that better. Hell next gen I'll probably just upgrade my PC and buy a WiiU. Maybe wait a few years and buy a console for any exclusives I missed.

The Wii U does have a browser, and I'm not sure if it will but it may be able to play blu-rays. But still, none of that is seeming to distract from the game part of the system. Just look at E3, if Sony or Microsoft announced they were getting Netflix or something on their consoles they would spend 5 minutes talking about it, and show a two minute trailer on it. In Nintendo's E3 conference this year talking about the Wii U they spend about two minutes announcing pretty much all their video services, and they were pretty much saying "We know you won't be surprised or amazed at these announcements, so we'll spend as little time as possible announcing them so we can get to the games!"

Oh I know it has those things but I meant the WiiU is at least a different way to play games than PC, whereas consoles PS and Xbox are starting to just have the same games and then a bunch of other stuff a pc can do better (and for free in the case of xbox). The WiiU is the only one trying to do what your pc is already doing better.

A little bit wrong, since Microsoft spends 20 minutes talking about ESPN and Adidas, while Sony spends 15 minutes on the surely killer-app that the Wonderbook will be. Then they show the 2 minute trailers.

Oh god don't remind me about the wonderbook, watching that in the sony conference this year made me wonder how easy suicide would be with the various things I had in the room with me.

That is the good thing about Nintendo's conferences, there's rarely any bullshit. They tell you the details and give you the trailers instead of getting out people to demo EVERY single damn game they have to announce, or talk about it.

I'm assuming the best way to interpret that moment in the video is that what console a game is on is not an issue, especially when most gamers are probably going to buy all the consoles anyways.

Furthermore, all the hate for the Wii U having Bayonetta 2 is unfounded; as what the action shows is that Nintendo is Genuinely wanting to have people take the console seriously as opposed to the last one.

The Exclusivity part only becomes as argument against exclusivity in general, and that is a problem nobody cared about before. And unless you want to start arguing that Microsoft should port Fable to PS3 as well, you have no ground.

Console companies are going to have exclusivity for some time, and we're not in a position to change that, yet... So it's all a moot issue.

Essentially, all the hate against the move is pointless noise-making, and that unless you're literally too poor to buy Nintendo's cheap ass Console; you're making much ado about nothing...

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm merely translating from "chimp impersonation". Also, some of the subtleties may be lost.

daibakuha:Who cares about all this superfluous bullshit? Consoles live and die by software, not by what other services they provide. Nintendo can't provide the experience I want out of a console, and I won't be buying from them.

Nintendo is going to bomb because their tech will be obsolete in a few years. Just look at how bad the wii did against the 360 and... oh, wait...

In case you couldn't tell, the Wii did well solely because of its gimmicky wand. But I guess that history will repeat itself, since there isn't any kind of tablet gaming device on the market - oh........

On the WiiU: Interesting point, i mean, Nintendo's approach of appealing to something like "a broader audience" was clear already, but this is a bit different perspective.However, the actual quality of a console will always be a combination of everything it does: Hardware, which will be behind standarts, again.Services, which clearly were behind standarts until now, looking at proper network, multiplayer and stuff, we'll have to see what the WiiU will provide.Software, the game-deals they can get. Wii was rather disappointing for many reasons, one being the implementation of the last point...Gameplay innovation, which Nintendo always had a head start on, but became lackluster with the Wii - to often i felt like an idiot, wiggling that Wii Remote like a spaz (no offence). Red Steel (1) sucked as a launch title and was intended to let the gameplay shine, while i have to admit, sometimes it was fun to use the controller the way it was always forbidden in the manuals, like real nunchakus and with something like WiiTennis it actually worked! Starting with motion plus and Red Steel 2, the gameplay became what it was ment to be, but to late. With the WiiU, i started wondering what ZombiU will be like, another fail like Red Steel, or shining as Nintendo presents it. We'll have to see.

Different perspective nonetheless, won't change my reserved attitude about the WiiU for now.

DVS BSTrD:I could have guessed Jim would think much of the outrage over Bayonetta 2, but I didn't think he'd condim ent so strongly.

Oh, you went there....Well played sir...well played.

My two cents on this episode? I will be f'd in the a before I pay for xbox live or any other service. It just kills me, this layering effect. First I have to pay for internet, then netflix, then xboxlive?

I'd rather eat poop.

I can stream netflix through my wii, for free - and so it should be really. I know what microsoft is thinking, i am just not certain they have thought it through.

A little bit wrong, since Microsoft spends 20 minutes talking about ESPN and Adidas, while Sony spends 15 minutes on the surely killer-app that the Wonderbook will be. Then they show the 2 minute trailers.

Oh god don't remind me about the wonderbook, watching that in the sony conference this year made me wonder how easy suicide would be with the various things I had in the room with me.

That is the good thing about Nintendo's conferences, there's rarely any bullshit. They tell you the details and give you the trailers instead of getting out people to demo EVERY single damn game they have to announce, or talk about it.

I'm sorry, how much bullshit on the TVii was there at the conference about the price? Oh look, 15 minutes of it.

Ahh alright. Yeah, I see your point and I agree with it fully. By the looks of it the nextbox and PS4 are both going to be a decent upgrade from this generation, but will also be REALLY overpriced for what they are because of that. Just look at the Vita, by letting it have PS3 graphics it's shot itself in the foot with a bloody high price. And with all the propriety shit that has, it doesn't bode well for the PS4. Same with the Nextbox, it will most likely have kinect built in (increasing the price), have more propriety memory and subscriptions and what not. TBH, I think Nintendo letting any HDD be plugged in to their system has been a very good idea for having a cost-effective system.